County law enforcement officials across 44 states recently reported methamphetamine as the No. 1 drug problem in their county, according to a survey released last Tuesday by the National Association of Counties (NACo).

Almost half of the counties surveyed reported meth has caused more problems than cocaine, marijuana, and heroin combined.

But despite proposals from the Bush administration to eliminate the grant that funds drug task forces around the country, local and national public officials have proved they are willing to take a stand.

Last week, Pope County Sheriff Jay Winters traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to share his thoughts at a regional conference of how the United States can better deal with the methamphetamine epidemic.

Winters was selected by the executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties to represent the state's county officials in the regional conference of the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws.

The alliance is a resource for governors, state legislators, attorneys general, drug and alcohol professionals, community leaders, and others striving for comprehensive and effective state drug and alcohol laws, policies and programs, according to its Web site.

But Winters said the 14 representatives from Arkansas, which included the state drug director and directors of state drug treatment and prevention facilities, met with representatives of the 13 states in the southeastern region mainly to look at improving existing laws and forming new ones to assist in the battle against meth.

He said four regional meetings are expected to take place before a presentation is made to the U.S. Congress later this year.

Expanding the laws

Winters said the officials discussed combating meth problems on the local and national levels, along with providing free solutions and those that would require funding.

"Not to brag, but I think the Arkansas delegation was very energetic, knowledgeable, and discussed some real common sense stuff," Winters said. "We didn't walk in there and say 'Fill our pockets full of money,' but instead really hit on some issues that would just require us to work -- like our (River Valley) Meth Project. We put our own time into that, it's nobody's job to do it."

For example, Arkansas and Louisiana representatives met at the meeting, Winters explained, and learned Louisiana's state drug laws are not as strict as Arkansas', meaning drug manufacturers in Arkansas counties that border Louisiana would have easy access to purchase meth ingredients.

Winters said the states requested stricter laws concerning the drug, which would not require any additional funding.

He said the delegation also discussed minor changes to the current legislation that restricts the sale of cold medicines that contain precursor meth ingredients.

"We were able to get a law to put ephedrines behind the counter, but at the time, we did not include gelcaps because they were not easy to use in the manufacture process," Winters said. "But now they have figured out a way to use the gelcaps, so we now need to expand the laws."

Tracking the meth-makers

For nearly a year, Pope County officials have communicated with a company in Kentucky that can link any number of pharmacies together to track purchases of certain meth-manufacture precursors. The company is also known for setting up programs such as the Victim Notification System and the Justice Exchange System and taking them nation-wide.

"We have found that right now, people can stop at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or any other pharmacy in Russellville, to buy ephedrine, then they can continue on down (Interstate) 40 into Pottsville or Atkins to buy more," Winters said. "And right now we have no realistic way of tracking them."

But he added Arkansas legislators have been working diligently to appropriate the $500,000 needed to link every Arkansas pharmacy so that law enforcement officials could monitor purchases.

Across the borders

But Winters explained the delegation understood the drug problem in the United States could not be controlled by simply changing American laws. He said because an estimated 95 percent of illegal drugs come from either Mexico or Canada, federal agreements need to be reached.

"We've got to look at the big picture," he said. "Where does it start and where does it end up? What can we do to prevent it from coming here? ... We have to make people understand what we're dealing with."